Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Psalms
Chapter 1: The Two Ways
The whole book of Psalms opens with a doorway, and above it are carved two words: blessed and perish. Psalm 1 sets before every reader the two ways that run through all of Scripture and all of life. One is the way of the man who delights in God's word, rooted and fruitful like a tree by the water. The other is the way of the ungodly, rootless as chaff the wind drives away. Everything that follows in the Psalms is prayed from one road or the other.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Psalm 1. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Psalm 1 is the gateway to the whole Psalter, a wisdom psalm that frames everything after it as a choice between two ways. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Prayer Book of the Bible
The Psalms are 150 songs and prayers, the worship book of Israel and the church. They give words to every human emotion before God: praise, lament, repentance, and hope.
Many Hands
David wrote the largest share, with psalms also by Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon, Moses, and others. Psalm 1 itself is anonymous, set as the introduction to them all.
The Gateway Psalm
Psalm 1 stands at the entrance to the Psalter as its introduction, teaching that the songs to follow are for those who choose the way of the righteous.
Two Ways, Two Ends
There are finally only two paths: the way of the blessed, rooted in God's word, and the way of the ungodly, which perishes. Where you plant yourself decides where you end.
Where He Will Not Walk (Psalm 1:1)
Blessedness begins with a turning away, a refusal to let the ungodly set the course of one's life.
Blessed Is the Man
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."
Hebrew Study
"Blessed," ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי). The word is plural and emphatic, something like "O the happinesses of!" It describes a deep, God-given well-being, not a shallow happiness of circumstance.
Walks, stands, sits. Notice the downward progression: a man first walks along with the ungodly's advice, then stops and stands in the sinner's path, and finally sits down at home among the scornful. Sin rarely arrives all at once; it settles in by degrees. Blessedness begins with refusing the first step.
Gospel Focus
The blessed life is described first by what it avoids. Before the psalm tells us what the godly man does, it tells us where he will not go. Holiness has a "no" at its heart, a refusal to take counsel, direction, and finally identity from those who do not fear God. "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners" (1 Corinthians 15:33). The company we keep and the counsel we heed will shape us more than we know. The path to the seat of the scornful always begins with one casual step in the wrong direction.
A Tree Planted by the Waters (Psalm 1:2-3)
The blessed man is defined not only by what he avoids but by what he loves and where he is planted.
His Delight Is in the Law of the LORD
"But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
Hebrew Study
"Meditates," hagah (הָגָה). The word means to mutter, to murmur, to speak in a low voice. Biblical meditation is not emptying the mind but filling it, turning God's word over on the lips and in the heart until it soaks in. It is the same word used when God tells Joshua to meditate on the law "day and night" (Joshua 1:8).
"Planted," shatul (שָׁתוּל). Not merely growing wild but deliberately transplanted and set beside the water channels, so its roots always reach the stream. The godly man is not self-sustaining; he is planted by God next to an unfailing supply.
Gospel Focus
The secret of the fruitful life is here: delight and meditation in God's word. The blessed man does not merely read the law as duty; he delights in it, and returns to it day and night. That constant contact with the water of the word is what makes him like a tree that bears fruit in season and does not wither in drought. Fruit "in its season" reminds us that growth has God's timing; we are not always in harvest, but the rooted life is never barren. "Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" is not a promise of wealth but of a life that comes to its true and lasting purpose in God.
The Way of the Ungodly Perishes (Psalm 1:4-6)
Against the rooted tree stands the rootless chaff, and the psalm ends with the two ways and their two ends.
Like the Chaff Which the Wind Drives Away
"The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."
Gospel Focus
The contrast is total. The righteous are a tree, rooted, watered, fruitful, and lasting; the ungodly are chaff, the worthless husk blown off at threshing, weightless and rootless, with nothing to hold them when the wind of judgment comes. The psalm closes with the reason behind it all: "the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous." To be known by God is to be watched over, kept, and brought safely home. Jesus said of His own, "I know them... and they follow me... and they shall never perish" (John 10:14, 27-28). Every life is walking one of these two roads. Psalm 1 pleads us to plant ourselves by the water of the word, and to be found among those the LORD knows.
Psalm 1 in Review
Psalm 1 opens the Psalter by setting two ways before every reader. The blessed man refuses the downward drift from walking with the ungodly to sitting among the scornful; instead he delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted by rivers of water, fruitful and unwithering. The ungodly are the opposite: rootless chaff the wind drives away, unable to stand in the judgment.
For the Apostolic reader, this gateway psalm calls us to decide where we will be planted. Blessedness is not accidental; it grows from a heart that loves God's word and a life set apart from ungodly counsel. The psalm ends in comfort and warning together: the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly perishes. To be planted by the water and known by God is the whole secret of a fruitful, lasting life.
- Sin settles in by degrees; blessedness begins by refusing the first step.
- Delight and meditation in God's word are the roots of a fruitful life.
- The godly are planted trees; the ungodly are rootless chaff with nothing to hold them.
- To be "known" by the LORD is to be kept and brought safely home (John 10:27-28).
Questions for Reflection
- Whose counsel most shapes your daily decisions: God's word, or the ungodly around you?
- Is God's word a delight you return to day and night, or only a duty? What would change if it became delight?
- The tree is planted by the water on purpose. What roots you when seasons of drought come?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The two ways and the blessed man: Psalm 1:1-6.
- Meditating on the law day and night: Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:97.
- Bad company and its influence: 1 Corinthians 15:33.
- The fruitful, rooted life: Jeremiah 17:7-8.
- The LORD knowing His own who never perish: John 10:14, 27-28; 2 Timothy 2:19.